Method of making box-strapping.



S. C. CARY.

METHOD 0F MAKING BOX STRAPPIN'G.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. l1. 1910.

1,175,236. Patented Mar. 14,1916.

UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEICE.

SPENCER C. CARY, 0F N EW YORK, Y., ASSIGNOR 4TO CARY MANUFACTURING CO.,OF. NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION NEW YORK. A

METHOD OF MAKING BOX-STRAPPING.

Specication of Letterslatent- .Patented 14, 1916.

Original application led December 3, 1908, Serial N9. 465,788. Dividedand this application illed November 11, 1910. Serial No. 591,827.

To all whom z' may concern.

Be it known that I, SPENCER C. CARY, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings,and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Method ofMaking Box-Strapping, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is a method of making metallic strapping intended foruse, more particularly, in nailing up Wooden boxes, packing cases, andother containers.

The invention forming the subject matter of this application is adivision of a prior application filed by meon Dec. 3, 1908, Serial No.465,7 88.

Metallic straps are now used extensively in the work of nailing upwooden boxes, packing cases, and other containers. One form of strapfavored by the trade is a continuous strap coiled upon itself to producea compact package, which strap is sometimes contained or held in a frameor hanger, from which the strap may be uncoiled, as it is required to beused. From an economical standpoint, it is desirable to\ manufacture thestrap from sheets of metal.

In carrying out the invention according to one mode of procedure, asheet of ductile or annealed metal of the required gage, is cut orpunched along an edge at one end of the sheet, or along an end edge of awide strip cut from the sheet, said cutting or punching of the sheet orstrip operating to produce tongues integral with the sheet, each tonguehaving a rivet hole. When a sheet is cut or punched to produce thetongues at an end edge of said sheet, it is subsequently cut into narrowlengths, the lines vof the -cuts being intermediate the'tongues. Thelengths thus produced are a trifle wider than the resulting strap, eachseparate length having an integral tongue, said tongue being preferablynarrower than the width of the metallic length, and said lengths arethen joined end to end, so asgto produce a box strapping -of any desiredlmeal dimensions, varying from 300 feet to 1000 feet, or more, inlength. I

The product of my new process forms the subject matter of the priorapplication hereinbefore mentioned, but it may be stated vthat saidproduct is characterized, mainly,

by two important structural features, rst, a strong flush joint betweenthe united lengths ofthe strap, and, second, rounded and folded oroverlapping edges which, at the joint add strength to vthe unitedlengths, sai

folded edges imparting a finished appearance to the product, increasingthe strength thereof, and precluding the strap from cutting the hands ofthe workmen in nailing the strap to, or removing it from the boxes orpackages. The tongues at one end of the metal lap over the straight endof the next metallic piece, and the two pieces are@ secured together bysuitable means, such as by rivets which pass through the tongues, or bythe electric welding process of that type known to the trade as spotwelding. If the metal pieces are narrow lengths or strips, I now run theunited pieces through a metal Hanging machine which doubles or folds the'side edges of the metal upon said pieces. This produces the folds whichrun lengthwise of the strap so as to give the rounded finished edgesthereto, and which increase the strength of the strap. In thisconnection it is important to note that the iianged side edges of thestrap are folded at the joint between two adjacent pieces so as tooverlap the tongue, whereby the joint at the united ends of the 4piecesis reinforced by the flanged or doubled metal. I thus avoid theproduction of four overlapping thicknesses .of metal at the jointbetween the pieces,

which otherwise would have a tendency to make the united ends too bulkyand un- According to a preferred mode of procedure, the metal sheet iscut into wide strips suiiicient to produce, j when subsequently slitted,a number of narrow pieces, each atrifle wider than theV resulting strap.These` multiple strip widths are each cut orV punched j along an endedge, to produce tongues, and the strips are vunited in end Yto endorder by suitable means, such as by the spot welding process, or byrivets, a

series of such rivets being inserted and headedfsimultaneously 'Theunited' wide strips are-coiled into roll form, and cut or -slitted byappropriate machinery, it being preferred to simultaneously cut or slitthe sightly. As stated, the anged metal over- .pressed'upon itselfrapidly and economically.

vtallic strapping. In

-rolled metal on parallel lines'between the tongues of saidunitedstrips. This results in the production of. rolls of pieces, and tofinish each roll, it is run through a iianging machine to fold the edgesas described, the

' strip being uncoiled and recoiled during the operation of folding theside edges thereof. The Whole procedure involves operations which arerapidly performed in order to secure economy in manufacture, and at theare to be understood as illustrative, only, and

not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 are perspective views illustrating the stepsemployed in the preferred mode of procedure employed by me foreconomically producing metallic strap' ping in accordance with thisinvention.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 represent a perspective view,

a plan view, and a longitudinal section of another form ,of the metallicstrapping wherein a length of paper, or other material, covers thejoints between pieces or lengths of the strapping.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a metal sheet, A, (Fig.l), of the required gage and ductility, is prepared by cutting tongues,B, along one (or more) of its edges. If the resulting strips are to beriveted together, or if two sheets are yto be united by rivets, holes,b, are punched in the tongues, B, of the strip or sheets. The sheet orwide strip is now cut or slit lengthwise, as at e, the lines of the cutsor slits being intermediate the tongues, whereby a number of pieces orstrips, C, D, are produced, each strip or piece 'having at one end atongue which is integral with the strip.

If desired, the holes for lthe reception of the rivets may be punchedthe metal sheet at thetime the sheet is cut to produce the tongues, B,thereon, or said rivet holes may be punched in the sheet subsequently tocutting the sheet to form the tongues on one edge thereof, or the rivetholes may be punched in the strips, C, D, after cutting them from sheetA. The next step is to assemble pieces C, D, in end to end order i 'forthe tongue B of one piece to overlap the straight end of the next piece,and rivets D are then inserted through the rivet holes, said rivetsbeing headed, whereby the strips are united to produce a length of metalof the desired length. The resulting strap is now fed into` a Hangingand bending machine of any suitable construction. This machine operatesto fold the side edges of the strap upon the body thereof, wherebyflanges or beads c, d, are formed, said flanges or 'beads overlappingthe side edges of tongues, B. The foldededges are pressed iirmly uponthe body portions of pieces C, D, and the edge portions of tongues, B,and at the same time rivets, D', are headed and pressed firmly intoposition by the pressure of the rolls in said anging and bendingmachine; also, the lapped parts of tongues, B, and folded edges ofpieces, C, D, are pressed flat so that the resulting strap presents aneat appearance, and it is strong and durable in construction.

The preferred mode of procedure for economically manufacturing thestrapping in quantities is to manipulate sheets of metal instead of theindividual cut lengths or strips. lomparatively wide strips or piecesare out from a sheet of metal of the required character, each stripbeing wide enough to produce a number of individual strips, C, D. Eachwide piece is cut along one edge thereof to produce tongues, B, and ifthe wide strips are to be riveted, said strip is punched to producerivet holes in tongues B and similar rivet holes in the other end of thestrip, said rivet holes being indicated at b, b', respectively. A numberof the prepared wide strips are now assembled in substantially end toend order, see Fig. 2, so that the tongues, B, of one piece overlap theend of the next piece or pieces, holes b of the tongues being inregister with the holes b. The rivets are now inserted in theregistering holes, and they are headed simultaneously, by suitablemachinery. Any desired number of prepared pieces are united to producemetal of the required length, say from 300 to 1000- feet, more or less.It is preferred to wind orcoil the united pieces into a substantiallvcompact bundle, as, indicated at E in Figi' 3. Subsequently, the woundbundle or coil is cut or slitted while the material is in said coiledcondition, the slits or cuts, E', being on parallel lines and in theintervals between tongues, B, of the united pieces. This operation isquickly and cheaply performed by appropriate machinery, and it resultsin a plurality of coiled lengths of metal, the width of the metalin theindividual coilslbeing slightly in excess of the product resulting fromthe treatment of the metal according to this invention. The nextoperation is to produce the flanges on the edges of the individualcoiled metal, and to this end the metal is run through the bending. orHanging machine, whereby side ilanges, c, d, are folded upon the metaland upon the edges of tongues, B, as heretofore described.

As shown in Fig. 3, the metal is unwound a roll, F.

from eheh coil, E, said coils resulting from slitting bundle E which arefianged as described.' Vand then wound into another coil, E3. subsequentto `Hanging the sideY edges of the metal strip or length. Bundle orcoil, E3, when completed is the finished product, and it is adapted tobe held in an intact condition bvsuitable retaining means.

The coiled strapping is produced rapidly and economically bv theprocedure lastdescribed, for the reasonthat themetal vis not required tobe manipulated 4by hand to any substantial extent, and the' operationsare performed in many -instances by machinery.

The product of the invention i-s so strong and durable that very thinmetal can be used in its manufacture, it being found practicable to use30 gage sheet metal, although it is not intended to restrict theinvention to metal of any thickness. The use of thin sheet metal is anadvantage, furthermore, for the reason that strapping of unusual lengthup to 1000 feet, or more, Vcan be wound into a compact bundle or coil.

The box strapping may be constructed with a length of lnaterial, such asF, held in position on one face or side of the strap by the foldededges, e, d, thereof. Said strip, F, may be composed of paper, or otherappropriate materia-l, and it may be used for different purposes, suchas-for advertising purposes, the strip being shown as having advertisingmatter on its exposed face, wherebv the strapping serves as a means foridentifying the particular boxes, ,etc.,., of the owner or shipper.Strip, F, is preferably` continuous, and it extends over, and conceals,the joints between the pieces of metal. The strip may be applied to, andunited with. the strapping during the operation of flanging it, and inFig. 5, said strip is represented as being drawn from and laid upon themetal priorv to folding the edges 'of the metal, whereby flanges, c, al,retain strip F permanently in position upon the strap. t

From the foregoing description it is apparent that the inventlon issusceptible of various modications. It may be here Stated that it is-notintended to limit the inventionJ to the use of rivets for fastening thepieces of metal together, for the reason that other forms of fasteningdevices may be used. In fact. the sheets of metal, or widestrips ofmetal, may be united by the electric welding" process, particularly thatform of such process known as spot welding wherein the sheets or widestrips arel fused to each other at intervals. In such case,'the spotWeld- 1 ing should, and preferably does, take place between the tonguesof one sheet or strip and th`e`smooth edge portion of the next sheet orstrip, so that in the subsequent operation of Hanging the length of cutmetal the beads will cover the edges of thetongues.

4of a metal sheet a series of Furthermore, it is not essential that theturned over edges Aof the pieces shall overlapthe side edges of thetongues.' Thus in Fig. 7 there is shown a construction of the strapwherein the two pieces of metal are provided with tonguesoverlappingeach other and riveted together, the side edges of each piecebeing folded into overlapping engagement with the piece.. Saidconstruction is desirable for the reason that it obviates the operationof folding two lapping thicknesses of metal, and reduces the foldedmetal to two thicknesses at the' joints between the niec Y Having thus.fully described the inven-- tion, what I clalmas'new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is l. The improvement in the art of making boxstrapping which consists in producing spaced tongues upon end edges ofmetal sheets, thewidth of each tongue being less than the width of thestrapping ultimately produced, uniting the tongues of one sheet Vto anend edge of the next sheet, cutting the sheets lengthwise, the lines ofthe cuts being intermediate the tongues so as to result in' strappingwider than the tongues, and folding the edges-of the metal upon thestraps and the tongues thereof.

2. The process of making box strapping which consists in producing uponone edge tongues separated by intervening spaces, number of similarsheets in series so that the tongues on one edge of each'sheet are inlapping relation to an edge of the sheet adjacent thereto, uniting thetongues of each sheet to the edge of the next sheet, and slitting thesheets lengthwise on lines between the tongues, the lines of the slits'being parallel and separated for adistance exceeding the width of thetongues, whereby strips composed of connected pieces are produced, thewidth of each strip exceeding the width of the tongues, and folding therespective side edges of each strip into lapping relation to the stripand to the tongues thereof.

3. 'The process of making box strapping which consists in cutting sheetmetal into strips, the width of which is equal tov a number ofindividual straps, producing tongues on one end of each strip, unitingthe tongues of each strip to an adjoining strip, winding the unitedstrips into a bundle, cutting said bundle transversely on parallellines, and folding the side edges of the metal into overlapping relationto the resulting strapping and to the tongues between ,thepieces ofmetal. Y l A 4.. The process* of making box strapping which consists in`cutting sheet metal into strips, producing tongues on one end of eachstrip, uniting the tongues of eal strip to an adjoining strip, windingthe 7nited strips into a bundle, cutting said bl dle transassembling a iversely tongues of said strips,

tinuous length, winding said continuous length into a bundle, cuttingsaid bundle transversely, folding the side edges of the individualcoiled lengths into overlapping relation to the metal and to the jointsbetween the united pieces, and then winding each flanged length of metalinto a compact bundle.

6. The process of making box strapping which consists inl punching oneedge of a thin metal sheet to produce thereon a series of tonguesseparated by intervening spaces, assembling similar sheets in series-sothat the tongues of one sheet overlap the edge of the next sheetadjacent thereto, electrically welding the tongues of each sheet to thelapping edge of the next adjacent sheet, slitting the sheets lengthwiseand on linesbetween the attachment of the tongues to the sheets, therebyproducing a series of metalstrips each composed of attached pieces thewidth of which is greater than the width of the tongues, and finallydoubling or folding the respective side edges of each strip upon themetal and over the edges of the tongues between the united metal pieces.

7. The process of making box strapping which consists in cutting uponone edge of a metal sheet a series of tongues separated by interveningspaces, assembling similar sheets in series for the tongues thereof tooverlap an edge of the next adjacent sheet, fastening the tongues ofeach sheet to a lapping edge of the next sheet, cutting the attachedsheets on lines intersecting with said spaces and between the tongues,thereby resulting in strips the width of which is greater than the widthof the tongues, and finally folding the respective side edges of eachstripupon the metal and upon the side edges of the tongues.

8. The improvement in the art of making box strapping which consists inassembling metal sheets for the end edges of one sheetto lap thecorresponding edges of the adjacent sheets, uniting the lapped edges ofsaid sheets by welding the same at intervals in the width of the sheets,the extent of such individual welds being less than the width of thestrapping ultimately produced, cutting the sheets lengthwise, the linesof the cuts being intermediate the welds uniting the sheets, the foldededges to lap said `cut length and to lap the joints at the welded partsbetween the pieces composing the length of strapping.

9. In the art of making box strapping, the process which consists inassembling thin metal sheets in series for the end edges of each sheetto lap the corresponding edges of sheets adjacent thereto, uniting thelapping edges at intervals, cutting the sheets lengthwise and in theintervals between the points of union of the lapped edges, therebyproducing a series of strips each composed of cut pieces united inseries, feeding a length of material into contact with each strip andacross the joints between the attached pieces thereof, and folding oneor both edges of the metal strip into contat with said length ofmaterial, whereby said length of material is' adapted to extendsubstantially continuously of the metal strip and to conceal the jointsbetween the pieces composing it.

10. In the art of making box strapping series of thin metal sheets inend-to-end lapping order, uniting the lapping edges of the sheets atintervals, slitting the sheets lengthwise, thus resulting in theproduction of a series of strips each composed of cut pieces attached attheir ends, imposing uponone face of each metal strip a length composedof fibrous material so as to cover the joints between the piecescomposingv the `metal strip, and uniting the metal strip and the,fibrous material rigidly together.

11. The process of making box strapping which consists in cutting sheetmetal into strips, uniting the separate strips into a continuous length,winding said continuous length into a bundle, cutting the bundletransversely, unwinding and rewinding the individual coiled lengths,feeding a strip of material other than metal into contact with theindividual coiled lengths at points between the unwinding and rewindingoperations, and folding the side edge or edges of the individual coiledlengths into overlapping relation to the strip of material.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

SPENCER C. CARY.

Witnesses:

I-I. T. BERNHARD, J. F. MoTHERsHnAD.

and folding each out length for Athe process which consists inassembling a

